


Welcome Home

by WorseOmens



Series: Omens On Baker Street [3]
Category: Good Omens (TV), Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: Comfort, Fluff, Found Family, Ineffable Dads, M/M, South Downs, coming home
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-30
Updated: 2019-12-30
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:08:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,196
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22033798
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WorseOmens/pseuds/WorseOmens
Summary: Tulip arrives in the South Downs, and finds that starting a new life isn’t as easy as she first thought. Luckily, she now has a family to fall back on.
Relationships: Aziraphale/Crowley, Ineffable Husbands - Relationship
Series: Omens On Baker Street [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1481288
Comments: 33
Kudos: 418





	Welcome Home

The Bentley rolled to halt on the driveway. The engine cut out, though the glare of the headlights cut through the gloom even as Crowley stepped outside. Tulip leaned forward, heart fluttering as she got her first glimpse of the house; night had crept up early, draping the South Downs in darkness as they made the long trip from London. She’d have fallen asleep if not for her excitement. 

“Are we here?” she said.

“Yes, we are,” Aziraphale said, opened his door. “Welcome home, my dear.”

She quickly undid her seatbelt, hopping out into the darkened driveway. She reached back to pick up Sister Mary’s jar, cradling it carefully as Aziraphale fetched her suitcase from the boot. The freezing air bit right through her clothes, making her shiver. Crowley unlocked the front door. “Come on, flower, let’s get you out of the cold,” he called, holding the door open for her.

The hallway was warm and welcoming, filled with yellow lamplight. She held the jar to her chest as she looked around at the cosy space, feeling the soft carpet underfoot as she kicked off her shoes. Aziraphale soon joined them with the suitcase.

“I’ll get your room ready for you. You must be tired,” he said. 

“Only a bit,” she said, suddenly finding an inexplicable wave of nerves washing over her. She was miles from the city she’d always called home, and she’d never lived in a house with so few people before. There had always been other children, carers and social workers milling around. Now it was just the three of them, all the attention was on her, and she wasn’t quite sure how to react anymore. 

“Well, just while I’m making your bed, why don’t you show her around, Crowley?” he suggested, lifting the suitcase up and making his way up the stairs. Crowley nodded, shrugging of his blazer and hanging it up by the door.

“Right this way, tyke,” he said, gently guiding her by the shoulder. 

Each and every room in the house was plush, cosy and pleasant. He showed her the living room first, which was lined with bookshelves along one wall and furnished with two very different-looking armchairs stationed in front of a fire. “We’ll have to get another chair for this room. Maybe a sofa,” he said thoughtfully. “You’ll need somewhere to sit.”

“That’d be nice,” she said quietly. It was slowly beginning to dawn on her, that she had really been taken into a home. It wasn’t temporary. It wasn’t superficial. It was family. 

“Come on, let’s go set Auntie Mary up in the kitchen,” he said, his hand still resting on her shoulder. 

He took the jar when they got into the kitchen, clearing a space on the windowsill above the sink. “There,” he told the disembodied soul, clicking on the radio. “You’ll get a view of the fields when the sun comes up. It’s beautiful. I’ll leave the radio on when no one’s around. Let me know when you want a change of scenery and I’ll sort something out.”

Mary’s soul gave a happy twirl. _Thank you, Master Crowley,_ her whispering voice replied through the glass. 

“Don’t mention it,” he said. He shot a glance back toward Tulip, who was reading the spines of the cookbooks stacked up in the far corner. He continued in a low murmur: “You took care of my family, I’ll take care of you. You’re one of us now.”

He stepped away from the window, and called Tulip over to continue the house tour. They finished up at the door to her room, where Aziraphale was just finishing up fluffing the pillows. “Ah! Just the people,” he said, setting the pillow down. He gestured around the room with a nervous smile. “Well? What do you think?”

Tulip took a few small steps into the room, eyebrows creeping upward in surprise. It was more space than she’d ever had all to herself. It was clean and plain, like a blank canvas. There were hooks on the walls where she could hang pictures and posters. She’d never had anything like that before. Aziraphale had put tartan sheets on the bed, because of course he had, and there was a small desk pushed against the wall opposite the bed. 

“You can decorate however you like. We’ll take you shopping soon,” Crowley said, leaning on the doorframe. “When you’re ready.”

“I don’t have any money of my own,” she said self-consciously. 

“Don’t you worry about that. It’s not up to you to pay for anything,” Aziraphale said sympathetically. 

“Really?” she said, hugging herself tightly. She felt strange. Was this ever going to feel normal? It wasn’t bad; she was grateful, but also still in disbelief. She’d seen many children leave the orphanage thinking they’d found family, only to come back a matter of weeks or months later. Sometimes they knew what they’d done wrong. Other times they had no idea.

“Of course,” he said, crouching down to her level, trying to look her in the eye. He and Crowley shared an unsettled glance. “Is something the matter, Tulip?”

“Something we did?” Crowley added nervously, edging over to kneel beside his husband. 

She shook her head, looking up with wide eyes at the gentle worry in their faces. “No! It’s not you, I promise,” she said. She swallowed hard, guilt prickling her skin. “This is - it’s new. It’s really new for me. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do...”

Crowley and Aziraphale looked at one another. A lot passed between them in that moment; anxiety, pity, love... “Sorry, flower. There’s no guidebook for this,” Crowley said, reaching up to cup her face. “Not for us or you.”

“We just want you to be yourself,” Aziraphale said, taking her hand. “That’s all. We shall try to do our best for you, too.”

“You’ve already done so much,” she said, tightening her grip on his hand. “You saved me from the eclipse, and - and you risked your lives trying to protect me. How am I supposed to repay that?”

“Don’t. Don’t you dare even think about it,” Crowley said fiercely, taking off his sunglasses to look at her without any barriers. “You don’t owe us a damn thing. We chose to protect you, just like you chose to come home with us. We did it because we love you.”

“And we will never need anything in return,” Aziraphale added with absolute certainty. He gave a self-conscious chuckle afterward. “Though we hope, of course, that you’ll one day grow to love us back...”

She couldn’t suppress a harsh laugh, sniffling and blinking back tears. “One day?” she said, smiling through the confusion of emotions in her chest. “I’ve already started to.”

Aziraphale gave a tiny gasp, a film of tears over his eyes as he beamed at her. “Ugh, you ethereal types,” Crowley said teasingly, his own voice ironically hoarse with emotion. He pulled them both into a hug. “You’re all so emotional.”

Tulip laughed into his chest. “You definitely cry more than us.”

“He cried when we watched Marley & Me, too,” Aziraphale said, resting his head against Crowley’s shoulder.

He spluttered. “Ngk - angel, that was _private!”_

**Author's Note:**

> Just a cute fluff piece to introduce the spinoff one shots. I have a plan for at least one more (with a little storyline) but I don’t know when I’ll write it :)


End file.
